Kansas Jayhawks basketball guard AJ Storr last week served as a counselor in the Formula Zero camp led by NBA standout Damian Lillard of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks and developmental coach Phil Beckner.
The camp, for 15 top high school seniors and 17 college counselors , was Thursday-Saturday in Phoenix.
“AJ Storr becoming a Jayhawk is the biggest wildcard for this upcoming season,” read a post on the X social-media account of Greenlight Media and News Company . “The 6-7, 205-pound wing has been in the gym all summer, just shined in Damian Lillard’s Formula One Zero camp. High IQ & feel for the game — finds his spots, plays at his own pace, incredible balance, & is a consistent getter.”
A short highlight video of the junior Storr scoring at the camp — off the drive, via mid-range fadeaways, from 3-point range and off offensive rebounds — was included on the social media post by the Greenlight company, which scouted the event.
Other college players/camp counselors in attendance at the camp: VJ Edgecombe, Baylor; James Scott, Louisville; Jamir Watkins, Florida State; Joson Sanon, Arizona State; Kanon Catchings, BYU; Koby Brea, Kentucky; Malik Mack, Georgetown; Rasheer Fleming, St. Joe’s; Trent Perry, UCLA; Aaron Bradshaw, Ohio State; Asa Newell, Georgia; Erik Reynolds, St. Joe’s; Felix Okpara, Tennessee; Ian Jackson, North Carolina; Jalil Bethea, Miami; and James Brown, North Carolina.
One of the national high school standouts to attend was consensus No. 3-ranked Darryn Peterson, a 6-5 senior guard from Prolific Prep in California, who is considering KU, K-State and other schools.
Storr told slamonline.com’s Ben Osborne in an article released Thursday that he is “planning on being in the (NBA) Draft next year,” which would make the 2024-25 season his only season in Lawrence.
A native of Rockford, Illinois, Storr played at St. John’s of the Big East Conference in his freshman season, then at Wisconsin of the Big Ten last year. Now he’s on to KU of the Big 12.
“I’ve been pretty good at basketball my whole life, but I had to get around the right platform and coaches and take advantage of the opportunities,” Storr told slamonline.com. “St John’s is in a great conference. Then I went to the Big Ten and the Badgers, who have made Final Four runs and are known worldwide. Being there helped me a lot. Now I’m looking forward to taking my game to another level at Kansas.”
Storr added to Slam Magazine: “My game translates to a lot of different places. I know how to buy into a program. I respect all my coaches. I’m a great teammate. Once you step on that court or in the weight room, you become brothers. Where I’m trying to go, you gotta be prepared. In the NBA, guys get traded all the time so this could be an advantage.”
Storr knows what it takes to play in the NBA. For the past two summers, he worked out with Team Bahamas national team. His dad is from Bahamas.
During the summer of 2023, AJ competed in two exhibition games against KU in Puerto Rico. His Bahamas teammates included NBA players Deandre Ayton, Eric Gordon, Buddy Hield, Kai Jones and Isaiah Mobley.
In a 92-87 loss to KU on Aug 5, 2023, Storr scored 19 points on 5-of-12 shooting. He was 9-of-10 from the line for Team Bahamas. Former Oklahoma standout Hield had 18 points in that game. In an 87-81 win over KU on Aug. 7, 2023, Storr scored 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting with two rebounds.
Storr averaged a team-leading 16.8 points per game on 43.4% shooting for the Badgers, who went 22-14 in his sophomore season. Storr earned second-team all-Big Ten honors after averaging 3.9 rebounds per contest with 32 assists to 57 turnovers.
Storr scored 13 points on 5-of-14 shooting (0-for-3 from 3-point range) with four rebounds and an assist in Wisconsin’s 72-61 first-round 2024 NCAA Tournament loss to James Madison.
He had a season-high 30 points on 10-of-16 shooting (3-of-5 from 3-point range) in a 70-61 win against Northwestern in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament, and followed that up with 20 points on 8-of-23 shooting (3-of-10 from 3-point range) in a semifinal win over Purdue.
He had 24 points, five rebounds and three steals in a 93-87 loss to Illinois in the title game. He hit over 38% of his 3-point attempts in the Big Ten’s postseason tourney.
He scored 28 points twice (in a loss to Nebraska and win over Michigan State) and had 29 points in a win against Chicago State. His five 3s against Nebraska marked a season high.
Before heading to Houston for camp, Storr had been in Lawrence since early June for summer workouts and classes. First-semester classes begin at KU next Monday.
Storr, sister give back to Rockford, Illinois
AJ Storr and his sister Amber, who plays for the women’s basketball team at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri, led a free-of-charge “Storr Sibling Basketball Clinic” recently.
The Aug. 10 event was attended by more than 100 youths at the downtown YMCA in the Storrs’ hometown of Rockford, Illinois.
They also stopped by Jackson Charter School in Rockford to announce plans to give back to a school they attended when they were young.
According to Kevin Haas of rockrivercurrent.com , AJ is “donating some of his NIL earnings to help teachers and students at Jackson Charter School.”
Amber, meanwhile, “has pledged to help mentor students when returning to Rockford on breaks from Southwest Baptist University in Missouri.”
Annette Brandy, mother of AJ and Amber, played college basketball at Missouri-St. Louis. She leads social and emotional learning classes at the charter school, which AJ and Amber attended.
“It means a lot to the school for AJ and Amber to come back to the school that they grew up in,” Tamir Bell, a Jackson Charter School board member and expected incoming board president, told rockrivercurrent.com. “Now they’re coming back and investing back into the students to uplift them.”
AJ Storr, according to the Website, is donating $5,000 to help teachers prepare their classrooms with school supplies. He also donated 139 backpacks filled with school supplies to students.
“My mom is a teacher so I always like giving back to schools,” AJ Storr said. “School is where it starts at … It helped me really. It helped me be a part of something, part of the community. So I think just me being here was hopefully helpful to the kids , to give them some motivation and just know that, I’m from the same city and this is where we grew up playing. The YMCA, is where we spent most of our basketball hours. So I think that’s where it started.”
Amber, a three-time all-state player in high school and the 12th-leading scorer in Illinois high school basketball history, said she wants “to be a role model for young girls who want to be involved in sports is something I want to do.”
Said Bell: “2024 is a turnaround year for Jackson Charter School and AJ is turning back to his community to give back. It means so much to have this generous donation to continue and increase our motivation and momentum headed into a school year where we’re trying to raise our test scores and raise the academic success stories here at Jackson Charter School.”
At the clinic, AJ reiterated to TV reporters that his plans are to attend KU this season prior to heading to the 2025 NBA Draft. He plans to forego his senior season of college for the draft.
Of his junior season, he said at the clinic in Rockford: “I’m looking forward to winning a lot of games Obviously they lost early last year (in second round of NCAA Tournament) so I know they are hungry. Everybody on their team is hungry. Coach( Bill) Self wants to get back to the national championship. As soon as we came in on day one that’s all he’s been preaching — national championship.”
Of choosing KU in the transfer portal , AJ told the Rockford Register Star : “It was pretty easy to pick Kansas. I took a visit to Kansas in high school so was already familiar with the coaching staff. Kansas is a great program and I can come and make an immediate impact. It was kind of a no-brainer for me.”
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